We at Abrahams Law POCA Investigations Solicitor have the best
lawyers and forensic experts to deal with the details required in these
investigations, this combined with our teams’ experience of dealing with the
most complex frauds and serious crime make Abrahams Law POCA Investigations
Solicitors best placed to defend you successfully.

Are you subject to a POCA?

POCA cash seizure and forfeiture
action can be a distressing and traumatic experience for individuals, their
family and business associates who may be affected by the order. We usually act
for individuals and companies affected by the cash seizure or forfeiture on a
privately paying basis

What is the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002?

Criminal or civil asset recovery
orders made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 can involve measures including
confiscation, restraint, receivership, cash seizure or civil recovery or
property freezing orders. The minimum amount able to be seized under Section
294 of the 2002 Act was lowered from £10,000 to £5,000 on the 16 March 2004.
The minimum amount able to be seized was reduced from £5,000 to £1,000 with
effect from the 31 July 2006.

POCA after a criminal conviction

If you are convicted or plead guilty to an offence, the court must
consider confiscation proceedings if it is asked to do so by the prosecution. However, this does not mean that confiscation
will automatically take It just allows the CPS an attempt at
confiscation of assets you may own.

POCA – Criminal life
style

If a
defendant is considered to have a ‘criminal
lifestyle’, then any assets, expenditure, and any property given or
receivedin the last 6 years is assumed to have
been met or obtained with the proceeds of criminal conduct,unless you can prove that it is not
the case. The requirement to show that all assets attained or passing through a
defendant’s hands were legitimate is called ‘the
assumptions’. Again, the assumptions only kick in if the defendant
has a ‘criminal lifestyle’.

If
a ‘criminal
lifestyle’
cannot be established, then confiscation will be limited to the amount benefited
by the defendant in the criminal case. Hence if the court decides that the defendant
has a ‘criminal lifestyle’ then the defendant will be subject to a full
financial investigation by the prosecution. Abrahams law POCA specialists will
ensure that you have the best legal and financial Experts to deal with these
difficult questions in this stressful and demanding process.

What is Criminal
lifestyle in POCA ?

A ‘criminal
lifestyle’ for the purposes of confiscation proceedings soes not equate to
what Material wealth that an individual owns. It is a legal term which
describes a defendant who falls into one of the following:

2.If the offence constitutes “conduct
forming part of a course of criminal activity”. This means that in the
recently finished case or in the last 6 years the defendant has been convicted
of 3 or more offences from which he has benefited in the sum of £5000 or more.

3.Where the offence lasted for 6
months or more, according to the evidence in the case

Benefit Figure

Abrahams Law POCA legal
specialists is a team of experienced proceeds of crime solicitors will be well
aware that the aim of a confiscation case is to get to the benefit figure, in
the case of the defendant as low as
possible as this is the amount that will probably be forfeited.

Why
chose Abrahams law POCA investigations solicitors?

We at Abrahams Law POCA Investigations Solicitor have the best
lawyers and forensic experts to deal with the details required in these
investigations, this combined with our teams’ experience of dealing with the
most complex frauds and serious crime make Abrahams Law POCA Investigations
Solicitors best placed to defend you successfully.